Getting Arty

Although we'd already toured Kathmandu at the start of our trip, there was still plenty for us to see during the final two days of our holiday.

We couldn't believe the size of the Buddhist stupa we went to see. When your legs are as short as ours our, it takes quite a while to walk round (clockwise of course in Buddhist fashion).


The bit you're looking at was just the top-most portion, there was plenty more that wouldn't fit in the camera, and we ourselves were too small to show up.

Very close to this stupa was a tanka painting school. Our guide took us in to have a look round and to find out all about tanka painting from the proprietor. Tankas are very intricate paintings, on fabric, of aspects of Buddhism. The Buddha and the wheel of life feature quite predominantly.

We were able to look over the shoulders of several of the students who were hard at work. The detail they were first drawing, and later painting, was incredibly fine. The brushes they were using couldn't have contained more than a couple of hairs to achieve that level of detail. We could tell they hadn't been sinking some Everest beers the night before, otherwise they would never have had a steady enough hand.


We had the opportunity to look at some of the completed paintings for sale, and here we are doing just that. They were amazing, and given all the labour that goes into them, not unreasonably priced. Two of our party did in fact buy one.

The proprietor was very proud of an article that had appeared in a major English newspaper about his school, and he had a copy prominently displayed on his counter (we're sitting by it). We were able to assure him that still greater fame would be coming his way, as he would soon be featuring in our blog!

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

The Kathmandu Illuminations

And now, we return to Nepal. If you recall, we had just arrived back in Kathmandu, and our return coincided with a special event in the Hindu calendar. The Diwali festival was well underway and had actually reached the fifth and final night, the brother sister festival, which is a very happy family occasion, with sweets and gifts being exchanged.

Diwali is a festival of lights symbolising the triumph of good over evil and the lifting of spiritual darkness. Lights are strung everywhere, and Kathmandu looked very festive. We were especially pleased that our hotel was well decked out with lights.


It was simply lovely sitting out on our hotel balcony and savouring the holiday atmosphere and seeing all the lights.

When we went out for a meal there was even more to see. Whole areas of road were beautifully decorated with incredible mandalas made of exquisitely coloured sand.


We thought they were so beautiful that it was a shame they were so temporary. At least we had the privilege of seeing them at their finest.

It was all very exciting.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

First Impressions

What we could see (but you can't as my head's in the way!) as we looked out the plane window, as we approached our holiday destination, was the beautiful sight of the snow capped Himalayas.


For those who hadn't worked it out, our flag is the national flag of Nepal and this is where we went for our latest adventure.

Our prime reason for travelling there was to write the Everest region trekking chapter for the Friendly Planet Guide - of course we planned to enjoy the trekking as well - it wasn't all going to be work.

However, like all good trips to Nepal, before we went trekking, we spent a fascinating couple of days in the capital city, Kathmandu.

From the airport we were transported to a rather nice hotel - the Hotel Mountain - within walking distance of the city centre. Starting off in a quality hotel was great as it helped us acclimatise to such a different culture to our own, and all the noise, bustle and fumes.


Just exploring the hotel's reception area was an adventure in itself. There were all sorts of amazing wooden carvings of Hindu deities. We wondered if we could get garlands of flowers, like they were wearing, and tikka marks on our foreheads, as they might help us blend in and look a little less like tourists.

We had a couple of hours to explore before dinner, so made our first foray out of the hotel on paw. Only a few doors down was the American Embassy, bristling with armed guards so we felt quite safe, assuming there were no terrorists around. We obviously did look very much like tourists though, as lots of shopkeepers wanted to talk to us, and to sell us their goods.

We felt very glad to have arrived safely in such a fascinating place.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx